Explosive
Summary
Ennio Morricone composed a solid score with a memorable theme, and Reynolds gave a great, physical performance and despite the fact that he may have been a little miscast, I didn’t care because he’s so cool in it. His jet-black wig is gnarly, but so what? He’s such a badass in this movie, and I expect his fans to enjoy the film as much as I did.
Plot: A half Navajo brave goes on the warpath for revenge.
Review: A band of cutthroat bandits, led by the cruel Vee Duncan (Aldo Sambrell), cross the line when they kill and scalp innocent Native women and children for a buck a scalp, and while in a one-horse town, they learn of a train that will be passing nearby with a fortune in cash in a day’s time. Before they can get organized, Vee’s gang is besieged by a lone Navajo brave named Joe (Burt Reynolds) who is relentless in his systematic elimination of Vee’s men, one after another, when they split up or whenever one or two of Vee’s men are vulnerable. Joe becomes a thorn in Vee’s hide to the point that Vee simply can’t shake him, and Joe is so good at cold and calculated murder that it begs the question: Why? Joe is out for vengeance! Vee murdered and scalped Joe’s woman (in the first scene of the film), and Joe simply will not give up or give in until Vee and all his vaqueros are dead. When Vee and his gang successfully rob the moving train with an incredible amount of collateral damage (women, kids, old ladies, and all the armed soldiers are massacred), Vee is blindsided when the intrepid Joe shows up and steals the entire score of cash right out from under them. Vee’s only option is to hold an entire town hostage by putting everyone in a small church that he swears he’ll burn to the ground, hoping that Joe will trade the cash for the lives of everyone he’s taken. Turns out Joe is more than just a stone killer, but a man with a conscience too, and the showdown will be epic.
From Sergio Corbucci, whose ultra violent style is on prominent display here with the hyper violent Navajo Joe. Like his best-known spaghetti westerns Django and The Great Silence, this one delivers on all fronts, but expect a very high body count and an ending that might not be what you’re expecting. Ennio Morricone composed a solid score with a memorable theme, and Reynolds gave a great, physical performance and despite the fact that he may have been a little miscast, I didn’t care because he’s so cool in it. His jet-black wig is gnarly, but so what? He’s such a badass in this movie, and I expect his fans to enjoy the film as much as I did.
Kino Lorber has just reissued Navajo Joe on Blu-ray, and it comes with an audio commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox, as well as a scene-specific commentary by a Morricone specialist, and the trailer. The high definition transfer is more than adequate, and there’s a slipcover as well.